Jose Briseno Jr.
I interviewed My Grandfather Jose Rivera Briseno Jr., whom was born on December 30,1926. Some of the historical issues that we discussed are issues involving World War II. Jose was born in San Antonio and raised on the East Side of San Antonio(East Commerce Street). He was raised by his father Jose Briseno and his mother Anita Briseno. He also had two older sisters Magarita and Maria, which have already past away. This makes Jose Briseno Jr. the lone survivor of his family. From East Side Commerce street Jose moved to a small town called Lytle, Tx and lived there from 1959-1974. From the small town of Lytle, Tx. he moved to Von Ormy, Tx. were he lives now. When he was seventeen years old he used to paint cars for San Antonio Buick Company which was located on Broadway and 5th Street until he was drafted into the United States Army in 1944 to fight in World War II. When Jose Briseno Jr. returned from Wrold War II he worked on kelly Air force base. Jose Briseno married my grandmother Amanda Lugo Briseno on July 1944 and lived happily together for fifty-five years until May 25, 1999 when my grandmother Amanda Lugo Briseno passed away. Now Jose is cared for by his three sons and three daughters. His oldest child is Jose Briseno III and his youngest child is Miguel Briseno(my dad). Jose never completed High School and has no formal education what so ever. Today he spends most of his time working on his classic 1957 Chevy car and working on the yard.
What were you doing before you were drafted into the United States Army?
Before I was drafted into the United States Army I worked at the San Antonio Buick Company painting cars for $15.00 a week.
Did you think you were going to be drafted into the United States Army?
No I didn't think I was going to be drafted, a lot of my friends were being drafted but I didn't think I was going to be drafted.
Who told you that you were being drafted?
I remember I had just turned 18 years old and I went to register for the draft and a few days later they called me in for a physical and I was off to basic training.
What did you know about the war before going?
The only thing I knew about the war before going was that we were fighting the Japanese and nobody liked the Japanese.
Did you have any kids before you were drafted?
No I did not have any kids before I was drafted into the United States Army
Were you married before you were drafted?
Yes I was married to your grandmother, we got married before I was drafted.
Where did the Army take you?
I was taken to Camp Wolters Tx. for basic training, then after seventeen weeks of training I was taken to Riverside California were they shipped us off across the Pacific Ocean to Yokohama, Japan.
What kind of special training did you recieve at Camp Wolters Tx?
I had to wake up at 5:00 O'Clock in the morning and run 5 miles around the barracks then during the day we had to run 30 miles. First they trained us how to use the machine guns then they trained us how to us the M-1 and the BAR.
What did you do in Japan?
I had to transport military vehicles from Tokyo back to Yokohama.
How long were you in Japan?
I was in Japan for about two years.
What kind of food did you eat?
The only thing that I had to eat was boiled rice and boiled beans and some days I would go without eating.
Where did you have to sleep?
We had to sleep on the ground we didn't have any beds.
Did you experience combat?
I experienced some combat but not to much, because like six months after I got to Japan the War was alreadyx ending.
What was your reation when you told that you were going back home?
I was happy when they told us that we were all going home but they didn't tell us when until the last minute.
World War II. HREF="http://history.acusd.edu/gen/ww2Timeline/start.html">World War II. This website is a Timeline of WWII from November 11, 1918 through October 16, 1946.
Lytle, Tx HREF="http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/LL/hjl20.html">Lytle, Tx. This website is a brief History of Lytle Tx.
Von Ormy, Tx. HREF="http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?country=US&address=&city=Von+Ormy&state=TX">Von Ormy, Tx. This website is a map of Von Ormy TX.
kelly Air force base. HREF="http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/KK/qbk1.html">kelly Air force base. This website is a brief history of Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio Tx.
classic 1957 Chevy car HREF="http://images.google.com/images?q=1957+Chevrolet+car&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en" >classic 1957 Chevy car. This website has pictures of 1957 Chevy cars.
Camp Wolters Tx. HREF="http://www.kwanah.com/txmilmus/1940/wolters.htm">Camp Wolters Tx. This website has pictures of Camp Wolters in th 1940's
Yokohama, Japan. HREF="http://go.hrw.com/atlas/norm_htm/japan.htm">Yokohama Japan. This website shows the map of Japan.
M-1 HREF="http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/m1-002.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/m1.htm&h=569&w=794&sz=71&tbnid=Qk-Cm8q3CisJ:&tbnh=101&tbnw=140&start=5&prev=/images%3Fq%3DM1%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26oe%3DUTF-8">M-1 Brief History of the M-1 Rifle.
BAR. http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=www.scott-duff.com/m1-1.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.scott-duff.com/M1NewRifle.htm&h=1996&w=3087&sz=75&tbnid=Ln_O2PYdaMMJ:&tbnh=96&tbnw=148&start=5&prev=/images%3Fq%3DM-1%2Brifle%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26oe%3DUTF-8 Brief History of the BAR machine gun.
